To make matters worse, she said she hasn’t seen a utility crew. “It looks like we are in limbo,” Cifaretto said.

JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said the utility‘s line crews are working.

JCP&L has restored power to about 160,000 customers throughout its service territory following superstorm Sandy, but about 940,000 are still without power. The majority will be restored within the next seven days. Customers in the hardest-hit areas will take an additional seven days on top of that. The utility says remaining customers will see their service restored when damaged roads, infrastructure and homes are rebuilt.

“The damage from Hurricane Sandy far exceeds what we saw from Hurricane Irene or the October 2011 snowstorm,” said Don Lynch, president of JCP&L, in a statement. “While we were better prepared for Hurricane Sandy, the damage rivals that experienced during Hurricane Katrina, one our nation’s most devastating and expensive hurricanes.”

About 1,600 line workers, who were positioned ahead of the storm, are working on assessment and restoration efforts while 1,200 forestry workers are cutting and clearing trees and limbs that have blocked streets and torn down lines.

“They are out working,” Morano said. Progress has been made on repairing damaged transmission lines which allowed the utility to begin providing power to substations, Lynch said.

The utility is dealing with downed trees and branches, impassable roads and flooding in some areas, Morano said.

“We are still using helicopter and foot patrols to assess damage to our system and make repairs to poles, lines and substations,” Morano said.

Meanwhile residents are waiting for the electricity to come back on.

Brick resident Dorothy DeMais said her home in Lions Head North is without power. Everything is powered with electricity.

“We can’t get around,” said DeMais, 92. Her husband is 96 years old and ill, she said. “We’re freezing. We can’t cook”

Atlantic City Electric, the utility that serves South Jersey including parts of southern Ocean County said it has made progress with restorations. As of Wednesday morning, it had restored power to about half of the 220,000 customers who had lost power.

The utility expects to restore 90 percent of mainland customers by midnight Nov. 4. Restoring service to the most severely impacted of the barrier island communities may require more than a week.

Damage assessments of those areas were completed on Wednesday, the utility said.